On Monday, March 12 2018, Calgary City Council will be holding a public hearing on proposed amendments to the land use by-law to include secondary suites as discretionary use within R-1, R-C1, and R-C1L land use districts.

It's as important as ever for Calgarians to let City Council know that they support effective reform of the secondary suites process.

Tomorrow is a big day. Those who turn out to vote will decide the next City Council that will shape the future of our city for years to come. If we want to avoid a repeat of the last four years, where the efforts of the leaders on secondary suite reform were held back by a majority of Council that could not come to the table on reform, we need to make sure we elect a Council that will champion the cause.

Calgarians for Secondary Suites supports reform that would make it less onerous for homeowners to build safe and regulated secondary suites. We oppose Councillor Keating’s motion because it fails to address the suites bottleneck at Council and it would make the complex secondary suites process even more difficult and dramatically more expensive for many homeowners.

If Council can’t approve secondary suites city-wide, then we call for a plebiscite on this issue in the 2017 municipal election.

On Monday, June 29 Calgary City Council voted against a bylaw change that would have made it much less burdensome and onerous for homeowners to build safe, regulated secondary suites in the mostly inner-city wards of 7, 8, 9 and 11.

In addition to the overwhelming public support from over 50 top civic leaders, community associations, organizations and businesses in Calgary, Calgarians for Secondary Suites has counted 2,104 emails sent to City Councillors in support of secondary suites since December 8, 2014. We have also received 2,334 signatures on our Suite YYC Petition calling for more secondary suites in more areas of Calgary.

Overall, we have received support from over 3,000 unique Calgarians calling on City Council for secondary suite reform.

Last Monday, City Council debated a plan that would have allowed discretionary use of secondary suites citywide. Secondary suite applicants from many areas in Calgary currently have to plead before City Council on a case by case basis seeking a subjective approval. The proposed plan would have allowed homeowners wishing to build secondary suites to apply to City staff and receive approval based on clear requirements and rigorous regulations set out by Council. Unfortunately, this proposal was rejected by an 8-7 vote.

One of North America's leading land developers, Brookfield Residential supports the broader use of legal, safe Secondary Suites in Calgary. This is consistent with the support from the Urban Development Institute, which serves as an industry representative on behalf of Brookfield Residential and 200 other related businesses in Calgary.